Music’s role in peacebuilding

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 138-143
Author(s):  
Haishang Wu

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to promote communication by using music, and through mutual understanding and culture exchange to establish world peace. Design/methodology/approach The research explains why music promotes world peace and gives examples through empirical research and statistics. Findings Music (those genres with harmonious melodies, with peaceful purposes and without religious, political objectives) can break down the borders of nation states and bind humanity together. Quoting J.J. Keki’s words: “Peace will begin with simple people.” “We should use whatever we have to create peace. If you think you have the body, use the body to bring peace; if you have music, use your music.” Music contains huge potential of contribution to peacebuilding, such as removal of direct and indirect violence, igniting hope and will of life and help integrating peacefully among communities. Originality/value Peacebuilding should not remain as a theoretical idea, as it is argued that it is useful to implement within daily life. Music is a language of communication which can remove hostility. While potentially a good tool for constructing harmony, music can, however, also result in deleterious effects, if it is misused.

2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather Moorefield-Lang

Purpose What happens when a librarian outgrows their maker learning location or transfers to a new library? The purpose of this study is to explore the planning process for second and/or new library makerspaces. Is the planning more intentional? Is there more focus on how the makerspace should be put together for the community served? Is the community further involved? This study will explore those questions and more. Design/methodology/approach Using content analysis, the perspectives of practicing librarians in the achievement of subsequent makerspaces are examined. Data include librarian interviews, an analysis using NVivo 11 through the lens of design thinking, and a final review using member checking by each research participant. Findings Makerspaces continue to grow in popularity in school and public/community libraries. What is unexplored is the moving from a first makerspace to the implementation of a second and/or new maker learning location. More intentional planning is involved. The community served by the library is further engaged in the planning. Study results illustrate the value that community insight and intentional planning play in the design and implementation of makerspaces. Originality/value Makerspaces in libraries continue to grow in popularity; in turn, the body of peer-reviewed, scholarly publications also continues to grow. Librarians in the field are beginning to move from their first to second makerspaces. This study investigates those perspectives. Much can be gained from the experiences of those who have implemented their second or third makerspace.


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 411-430
Author(s):  
Agnieszka Kurczewska ◽  
Michał Mackiewicz

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify human capital factors that pertain both to setting up and successfully running a business. To achieve this objective, the authors apply and extend the theory of career choice offered by Lazear (2005) that explains individual selection into entrepreneurship.Design/methodology/approachThe authors hypothesise that individuals with broader educational and professional backgrounds are more likely to start a business and are more likely to run a business in the long term. The authors tested the hypotheses using unique data from 800 current entrepreneurs, 800 employees who were previously entrepreneurs and 842 employees with no entrepreneurial experience, by means of a logit regression with robust standard errors and extensive robustness checks.FindingsThe authors empirically show that individuals with more diverse educational and professional backgrounds tend to have both greater chances of starting a company, as well as a higher probability of entrepreneurial success. Surprisingly, having managerial experience proved to exert a negative influence on the likelihood of starting a business while having an insignificant impact on the odds of entrepreneurial success.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings are informative for those planning or pursuing an entrepreneurial career, but they are also relevant for the purpose of entrepreneurship education.Originality/valueThe author's extend the body of research supporting Lazear's (2005) theory by showing that broad education and professional experience not only contribute to a higher propensity to start a company but they are also success factors in business per se.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Natasja Steenkamp ◽  
Roslyn Roberts

Purpose This paper aims to explore how advanced integrated report preparers internalise and operationalise material value creation information to manage the generation of such information for the integrated report. Design/methodology/approach The paper adopts a qualitative approach using in-depth semi-structured interviews to examine how information about material value creation matters in six South African organisations are managed. Findings The findings will be useful to integrated reporting adopters as to how they might implement appropriate processes and systems to determine, communicate, collect and process information about matters that substantively affect their value creation. Originality/value The paper contributes to the body of knowledge by providing insight on how material value creation matters are determined, communicated internally and information about such matters generated.


2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 321-344
Author(s):  
Jean-Claude Mutiganda ◽  
Giuseppe Grossi ◽  
Lars Hassel

Purpose This paper aims to analyse the role of communication in shaping the mechanisms of accountability routines. Design/methodology/approach Conceptual elements of the theory of communicative action and the literature on routines were used to conduct a field study in two hospital districts in Finland, from 2009 to 2015. Data were based on interviews, document analysis, observed meetings and repeated contact with key informants. Findings The findings explain how accountability routines take different forms – weak or strong – in different organisations and at different hierarchical levels. Differences depend on the generative structures and mechanisms of the communicative process – relational and normative – used to give and ask information to and from organisation members involved in accountability relationships. An explorative finding is that discourse-based communication plays an important role in bridging the gap between weak and strong accountability routines. The main theoretical contribution is to conceptualise and show the role of communicative rationalities in shaping the mechanisms of accountability routines. Practical implications The implication for practitioners and policymakers is to show to what extent the organisation policies and communicative rationalities used in accountability have potential to improve or not to improve the practices of accountability routines. Mutual understanding, motivation and capacity of organisation members to do as expected and agreed upon without pressure improve accountability routines. Originality/value The value of this study is to explain how accountability routines take different forms in practice (weak or strong) in different organisations and at different hierarchical levels, depending on the generative structures of the communicative process used in practicing accountability routines.


2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (5) ◽  
pp. 737-751
Author(s):  
Alison Horstmeyer

PurposeThis paper examines the role of curiosity in volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) work contexts.Design/methodology/approachThis conceptual article relied upon an examination of literature about curiosity, VUCA and soft skills.FindingsCuriosity, when encouraged and supported within the workforce, may aid organizations in closing soft skill gaps and better navigating ambiguity, perpetually changing business landscapes, and rapidly advancing technology.Research limitations/implicationsEmpirical research is needed to validate, confirm and further explicate the specific mechanisms and value of curiosity within VUCA environments.Practical implicationsOrganizations need to move beyond espousing a value of curiosity to deliberately and effectively cultivating and supporting it within their employees.Originality/valueAlthough ample research and literature has examined curiosity, soft skills and VUCA environments independently, the body of literature on the specific role of curiosity in such environments is limited.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shasha Wang ◽  
Arnold Japutra ◽  
Sebastián Molinillo

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to test the influence of branded premiums or branded free gifts (e.g. a free of charge suitcase of a well-recognised brand) on tourism destination promotion. Specifically, the impact of brand name and price value of a branded premium on promoting a tourism destination was examined. Design/methodology/approach This research uses two experiment-based studies, applying a between-group experimental design. Findings The results revealed that appreciation leads to intention to visit the promoted destination when the branded promotion is offered. When a destination promotional offer contains a branded premium, consumers respond more favourably to the brand name of the premium than the price value of the premium. This finding applies to consumers’ responses to both the destination and the premium. Research limitations/implications This research adds to the body of knowledge on tourism destination promotion and the branding literature, specifically with promotional and branded premiums. Practical implications Mutual benefits can be obtained by both tourism destination marketers and premium marketers. Originality/value This research highlights the importance of branded premiums in tourism destination promotional offers. This research also shows the influence of the price value of a premium’s brand name in a tourism destination promotional offer.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Teppo Eskelinen ◽  
Juhana Venäläinen

PurposeThis paper explores economic moralities in self-organised alternative economies and argues that the diverse economies approach is particularly useful in elaborating the self-understandings of such economic communities. The analysis focuses on two types of alternative economies in Finland: ridesharing and timebanking.Design/methodology/approachThrough qualitative data, the paper looks into moments of negotiation where economic moralities of self-organised alternative economies are explicitly debated. The main research data consists of social media conversations, supplemented by a member survey for the participants of the studied timebank. The data are analysed through theory-guided qualitative content analysis.FindingsThe analysis shows that the moments of negotiation within alternative economies should not be understood as simple collisions of mutually exclusive ideas, but rather as complex processes of balancing between overlapping and partly incommensurable economic moralities. While self-organised alternative economies might appear as functionally uniform at the level of their everyday operations, they still provide considerable leeway for different conceptions of the underlying normative commitments.Originality/valueTo date, there is little qualitative research on how the participants of self-organised alternative economies reflect the purpose and ethics of these practices. This study contributes to the body of diverse economies research by analysing novel case studies in the Finnish context. Through empirical analysis, this paper also provides a theoretical framework of how the different economic moralities in self-organised alternative economies can be mapped.


2019 ◽  
Vol 54 (4) ◽  
pp. 371-383 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcelo de Souza Bispo ◽  
Silvia Gherardi

Purpose This paper aims to offer a perspective to interpret qualitative data drawing on the introduction of the notion of “embodied practice-based research”. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on a comprehensive literature review to support a meta-theoretical approach, we developed a theoretical essay. Findings The body is not only a field of studies but a mean of study as well. The embodied practice-based research is an inquiry style to access the tacit texture of social action and cognition. Practical implications Embodied practice-based research may impact qualitative researchers’ education and the way to report methodological proceedings and data report. Originality/value The core contribution of the paper is the introduction of a new research style able to change how researchers’ bodies may be used in qualitative management research.


2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 415-427
Author(s):  
Ann Anka ◽  
Helen Thacker ◽  
Bridget Penhale

Purpose This exploratory paper aims to examine the literature on the impact of COVID-19 on safeguarding adults practice. Design/methodology/approach A literature search was carried out in recently published articles to locate literature relating to COVID-19 and safeguarding adults in the UK and internationally. This included policy guidance and law, to describe the existing knowledge base, gaps in practice and areas that may require further research. Findings The findings suggest that measures to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic gave rise to remote working and virtual safeguarding practice. The findings highlight the need for empirical research into the impact of virtual safeguarding adults assessments and effective ways to support the needs and outcomes of those who may be at risk of or experiencing abuse and neglect while shielding, socially isolating or when working in an environment where social distancing is required. Research limitations/implications The paper is based on a review and analysis of published documents and not on other types of research. Originality/value Little is known about effective safeguarding adults practice in the era of shielding, self-isolation, social distancing and remote working. The paper adds to the body of knowledge in the field.


2015 ◽  
Vol 116 (9/10) ◽  
pp. 517-526
Author(s):  
Eliz Nassali State ◽  
Isaac M.N. Kigongo-Bukenya ◽  
Constant Okello-Obura

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the subject cataloguing of local publications and subject access to local publications. Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative approach was used. Methods included interviews, document reviews and observations. Findings – Adherence to cataloguing standards takes precedence over subject access. Rarely is a user the focus of choice of the subject term in the process of cataloguing. The terms assigned to local publications are generally too broad and, at times, border on inappropriateness. The situation is exacerbated by a lack of documented cataloguing policies and a waning interest in cataloguing matters from the profession. Originality/value – This study is intended to benefit the librarians who provide subject representation to local publications by way of streamlining the process of subject cataloguing, hence, enhancing access to these uniquely held resources. The outcome of this study, hence, will provide insight in the process of cataloguing local publications. In addition, the findings of this study will benefit the teaching of subject cataloguing in library and information science programs. The findings from this study are expected to contribute to the body of library science by enabling a localized view to subject assignation. Ultimately, the significance of the study lies in its contribution to cataloguing education and research, especially with a perspective from Africa.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document